Aircooled VW South Africa

Message of Tudor today.
Hi Chris

Small end reamed successfully, pistons and barrels fitted, heads and
sealing rings torqued down.
Secondary pressure relief valve casing had to be modified by braising in
a smaller hex head as the VW spline is too big for any tool to torque
it.

Hydraulic tappets, had a problem with one of them, it would not bleed
up, had to be stripped and the ball re-seated. Unexpected for a new
German part. But OK now.

Message of Tudor today.
Hi Chris

Small end reamed successfully, pistons and barrels fitted, heads and
sealing rings torqued down.
Secondary pressure relief valve casing had to be modified by braising in
a smaller hex head as the VW spline is too big for any tool to torque
it.

Hydraulic tappets, had a problem with one of them, it would not bleed
up, had to be stripped and the ball re-seated. Unexpected for a new
German part. But OK now.

Hi Chris

I made good progress last night, fitted cooler, filler, filter, new
followers with break in paste, then push rod tubes, all additionally
sealed.

Fitted rockers and push rods, installed distrubutor drive shaft in
correct mesh to achieve the timing for no 1 cylinder, then the
distributor.

Proceeded to set the pre-load on the tappet adjusters, two turns from
clearance and then re-checked.

Cleaned the rocker covers, fitted new gaskets and clicked up.

Filled case with 15/40 oil, spun engine over - all OK.

Connected master oil pressure guage, 40psi on starter speed, very good.
Tested compressions, all at 140, excellent for first reading.

I had to re-tap the head on no 3 to a metric fine pitch to accept the
heat sensor, as the heads that were used did not have the threaded
provision for the fuel injection heat sensor.

Today I can fit all items - fan, tinwork etc - ready to bench start it.


Keep you posted
Tudor

Hi Chris

Started off well, then ground to a snails pace.

After figuring out how the air conditioning support bearing brackets
fitted I had to make new top hat spacers because the bearing was
bottoming out and locking up.

The alternator fittings were not good, had to helicoil the casing back
to 6mm for the flange plate steady bolt. Then I had to make a captive
pivot bolt for the alternator and a blind captive nut for adjustments.

I sorted out the top tinwork and fixings. By midnight the temporary
carbs were on and the engine ready to start.
It was too late to run it, will run it for an hour today.

If it shows no leaks and passes all the tests I will fit the other
ancilliaries and it will be ready to fit.

Cheers
Tudor

Bought a new oil pressure switch from GSF on Tudors recommendation:-



I didn't like the bur on the plastic so I cut it off with a stanley blade:-

She is running, while the video is uploading here are a few pics of the krypton tuning:-

Milly at 2.30AM after I finished for the night, chrome trim, grill & over riders all back on. Engine in & ready for MOT

A last few pics that Tudor took while refitting the engine:-

Friday was a very busy day, the engine was finally finished at 2300 Tudor & Mike did a fantastic job & didn't cut any corners, I took it for a test drive & then Tudor tried it, he was very happy apart from my gear shift which he wants to adjust another time. Friday morning she flew the MOT with only 2 advisories offside rear tyre worn close to legal limit on the inner edge & the driver side brake pipe from the flexi to the caliper is slightly rusty. I'll get these done very soon.
After the MOT I dropped the bus down to my M8's valeting yard for a wash & polish outside. My brother Richard picked it up for me & also picked up the trailer from my mother-in-laws garage.
We then had to TAX the van (£120 for 6 months) & insure it (£367) for 12 mths. Now she's all legal!

Finally set off for Volksfest Wales at about 16.30 & milly never missed a beat all the way:-

The 2 little ones all strapped in ready to go:-



All packed up & ready:-


Holding hands on their way camping it was Alys's first trip in Milly:-